London shop found selling illegal snacks again

With Halloween just around the corner, a London shop has been found to be selling illegal sweets, crisps, drinks and other food products for the second time.

A raid by Westminster City Council’s Environmental Health team on the premises in Oxford Street uncovered 676 items containing additives, colourings and additives banned in the UK that have now been sent for incineration.

Several of the chocolate bars were not labelled in English, meaning consumers were unable to check the products for ingredients, sell-by dates, or allergens, according to a  Westminster City Council statement.

Trading Standards teams also uncovered illicit Lucky Charms cereal, KitKats, Lion Bars and a variety of bottled drinks including Mirinda and Fanta all containing dangerous and harmful ingredients.

It is the latest raid on the same premises which was previously found to be selling Swedish Fish and Hot Tamales sweets, which are banned in the UK due to the impact their additive ingredients can have on children, including mineral oil and white mineral oil. In the last three months alone, 2,374 non-compliant products were destroyed from this premises.

"We are continuing to make the lives of unscrupulous traders a nightmare through regular enforcement action and putting pressure on landlords. This collection of illegal sweets was enough to send a shiver down anyone’s spine," said leader of Westminster City Council Adam Hug.

"There are more raids coming in the next few weeks, so I hope traders who seem happy to sell illegal goods to children are ready for a fright," he added.